The Birth Story of Annalise Jade Harrison

Prior to getting pregnant, I was terrified of pregnancy because I had heard so many horrific birth stories. The birth story of my firstborn wasn’t horrific, but it definitely was dramatic. My daughter Annalise has a flair for the dramatic, so it is especially fitting that she entered the world the way that she did.

My pregnancy with Annalise was high risk. Prior to getting pregnant, I found out I had three large uterine fibroids. These fibroids continued to grow throughout the pregnancy and required consistent observation with weekly ultrasounds and doctor’s visits from week 30 in my pregnancy. My story begins at an OBGYN appointment…

Birth Story Day 1

On the morning of Thursday, October 8, 2015, my husband and I went to my 37-week OBGYN appointment. It was at that appointment that my doctor determined that due to my elevated blood pressure, the best course of action was to induce labor. I had high blood pressure prior to being pregnant and this was an ongoing concern for both me and my doctors. I agreed with his decision. My husband and I headed home to go get my hospital bag, and off to the hospital we went. We were so excited that we were going to have a baby!

When we got to the hospital, they started me on Pitocin (inducement medication) at 2:30 p.m. I had decided early in my pregnancy that I wanted to have a natural vaginal birth. I had my birth plan with me. I communicated my wishes to all of the doctors and nurses. I could see on the monitors that small contractions were beginning to happen, but they weren’t too bad. At this point, I felt good about the process. I was confident that I would be able to give birth to my baby on my terms.

As the afternoon progressed into the evening, my contractions intensified. I remember watching Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder on television trying to distract myself from the pain. It was around this time that they came in to check how much my cervix had dilated. You have to reach 10 cm in order to be able to push. I was only at 1 cm. My mother arrived at the hospital and was with us in the room. I really wanted my mother with me for this experience. She’s an occupational therapist and can speak and understand medical lingo. We see a lot of stories in the media about black women not receiving adequate medical care. For this reason, it was important for me to have my two biggest advocates with me.

Birth Story Day 2

On the morning of Friday, October 9th, things began to go awry. Overnight and into the morning the contractions became more painful. Around 11 a.m., they checked my cervix again, and this time I was only 2 cm dilated. This was when the doctors decided to manually break my water. Once they broke my water, my contractions went from a level 5 to a LEVEL 10.

My mother-in-law walked into the room shortly after they broke my water. She entered the room saying the Lord’s Prayer and encouraging me to do the same. Let me preface what I am about to say to with this: I love my mother-in-law and we have a good relationship. However, there was no way I was in a Lord’s Prayer type of mood, but I digress.

As Friday morning turned into the afternoon, and the afternoon turned in to the evening, the pain continued to get worse. The doctors came in for another cervix check, and this time I was at 4 cm. This was when I realized, as much as I wanted to, performing a natural birth would not be in the cards for me. At this point, I had been in active labor for over 24 hours and there was no end in sight. I was tired and hungry. It was then that I requested an epidural. My doctors checked with me multiple times because I had communicated earlier that I really wanted a natural birth. I was resolute in this decision, and they went to go get the needle.

The Epidural

Somewhere between when they went to go get the epidural and when they got back to my room, my contractions got to a level that can only be described as unbearable. They were coming quickly and lasting for longer periods of time. When they came in with the needle, they explained the process and emphasized the importance of me being super still. But, there was one major problem: I was in the midst of active labor.

It was at this point that I was convinced that I would end up being paralyzed. I did not believe there was any way that I would be able to keep my body perfectly still while they inserted a 4-inch needle in my spine, and while I was experiencing unbearable contractions. NO WAY! This was the first moment during this entire process where I was actually afraid. (Like, REALLY afraid.) My husband held me tight and still while they inserted the needle. I didn’t move. The bottom half of my body began to go numb. There was another major problem: I could still feel EVERY contraction.

I told the doctors that I could still feel everything. They encouraged me to relax and told me that the pain would begin to subside in a few minutes. More time passed and I could still feel EVERYTHING! At this point, I became irate. I told the doctors that something was not done correctly. Though my bottom half was somewhat numb, I could feel the contractions in my back as heavily as I had before the epidural. My doctors conversed with one another and decided that they would need to give me another epidural.

Read that again.

ANOTHER…. EPIDURAL!

The second epidural worked the way it was supposed to. It was around 5 p.m. on Friday when I finally was able to rest a little. I napped for a bit and woke up when it was dark outside. I looked around the room and hubby, my mom, mother in law were all sleeping. I was awake, refreshed, and watching the monitors when I noticed that the numbers on the baby’s heart monitor were dropping. The numbers were supposed to be in the 120-130s. As they began to drop I screamed for someone on my support team to get a doctor. They were in the low 90s/high 80s by the time they entered the room. The doctors came into the room and moved me into several different positions (all while the bottom half of my body was numb). Eventually, the baby’s numbers returned to where they were supposed to be.

The evening continued to go on. It eventually turned in to dawn. It was around that time that the doctor checked my cervix again. I was only 5 centimeters dilated. My doctor told me that if I continued down this path and didn’t dilate to 10 cm soon, I would likely get a c-section.

Birth Story Day 3

The next morning around 11 a.m., a new doctor checked my cervix again. I was at 6 cm. The new doctor told me that I was laboring too long. He would check again in an hour. If I wasn’t at 9 cm by that point, we would move forward with a c-section. I felt so defeated. I had a plan coming into this birth. I had endured everything that had come my way up until this point, and now this story would end with a c-section. I cried like a baby. I prayed to God that I would dilate. I called a friend who had a c-section at my hospital to ask her what to expect and began to prepare for the inevitable.

My doctor came back in an hour as promised. He checked me and guess what, I was at 10 cm. I MADE IT TO 10 CM!!! His exact words were, “It’s go time!” They changed the position of my bed. They instructed my mother to grab one of my legs to serve as a stirrup and my husband grabbed the other. They instructed me on how and when to push. After 4 pushes, and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, the sweetest little girl to grace the earth was born.

As long as the labor process had been (47 hours to be exact), the pushing portion went quickly. Due to the way that they positioned my mother and husband, I was able to see both of their faces as Annalise entered the world. Their looks of amazement and pride are memories that will forever be ingrained in my mind and heart. My mother in law recorded the whole thing and I feel so grateful to be able to show my daughter how she made her grand entrance.

This is the birth story of Annalise Jade Harrison. The labor and delivery were dramatic and long. At the end of it, I had a 6 lbs. 12 oz beautiful, healthy baby girl. That day my life changed for the better.

Did your birth story go as planned, or were there hiccups along the way? Let me know in the comments below.